Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it now expects its Environment and Rural Affairs Department to publish its research organisation assessment exercise for 2003 and what action it will take in light of the exercise’s recommendations.

Allan Wilson: The reports of the individual research organisations are confidential, as are equivalent reports for other research organisations, although a summary of the outcomes and conclusions will be contained within the SEERAD Agricultural and Biological Research Strategy 1999-2003 Fourth Annual Report to be published shortly.

  Recommendations arising from the research organisation assessment exercise (ROAE) will be taken forward within the review of the research strategy for agricultural biological and related research, and in discussion with relevant stakeholders.

  The department hopes to be in a position to publish its new research strategy in the spring along with a fuller report on the process and outcomes from the ROAE.

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will complete its research organisation assessment exercise on agricultural research funding; whether it will publish all options considered as part of, and papers relevant to, the exercise, and what information it has on the extent to which there has been consultation with staff, the public and other relevant parties.

Allan Wilson: The research organisation assessment exercise was an assessment of performance of research carried out at the research organisations and has now been completed.

  The individual reports of the Institutes of the assessment exercise are confidential although a summary of the outcomes and general conclusions overall will be contained in the Fourth Annual Report of the Agricultural and Biological Research Strategy 1999-2003 due to be published shortly.

  Relevant members of staff of the research organisations have been fully involved in the research organisation assessment exercise.

  Part of the assessment exercise included an assessment of end use relevance for each of the institutes which involved a large consultation on the relevance of end-users. Responses to this consultation exercise were provided in confidence.

Agriculture

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the farm income figures for 2003.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is today publishing estimated Scottish farm income figures and I welcome the forecast rises in income that these show. These estimates show that Total Income From Farming (TIFF) rose by 29% in 2003 to £471 million. The forecast rise in the Scottish figure reflects the increase in cereals in particular the good yields and prices for barley. Finished cattle and sheep markets also continue to improve, as shown by the 3% and 10% increase in cattle and sheep respectively.

  Average net farm income (NFI) for all farm types is forecast to have risen by 134% between 2002-03 and 2003-04, from £7,000 to £17,000. This figure relates to farms not directly affected by foot-and-mouth disease culling. There is forecast to have been a considerable rise for all farm types, with cereal and general cropping farms showing significant increases. However, income for other farm types has also benefited from better cereal prices. Detailed estimates of the outputs, inputs and income for 2003-04 at both the aggregate level and by farm type will be published this morning and will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult with communities in relation to the proposed powers of dispersal contained within the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill.

Ms Margaret Curran: Yes. My ministerial colleagues and I spent considerable time over the summer of 2003 consulting with communities across Scotland about antisocial behaviour. Problems with groups of people causing alarm and distress were raised many times and we found widespread support for our proposals to strengthen the powers of the police to deal with such groups. That dialogue with the people affected by antisocial behaviour has continued and will continue throughout the progress of the bill and beyond.

Arts

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support Scottish community drama.

Mr Frank McAveety: Executive support for community drama, as with all other types of drama, is channelled through the Scottish Arts Council. The Council continues to work with various organisations, including the Scottish Community Drama Association, to promote and develop community participation in drama. The forthcoming consultation on culture will also provide an opportunity to consider how the voluntary sector can best contribute towards the delivery of drama and other art forms.

Audiology

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is after an assessment by a specialist audiologist to receive the required hearing aid, broken down by NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available centrally. Information on outpatient waiting times is collected centrally only for an initial appointment at a consultant-led clinic, following referral by a general medical or dental practitioner, and at specialty level only.

  The Executive is committed to improving audiology services across NHSScotland. A co-ordinated audiology modernisation programme is currently underway, and we are investing almost £20 million over five years from 2002 to 2007 to ensure NHS boards are equipped with the necessary facilities, equipment, staff and aids.

Caledonian MacBrayne

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the new 2004 European Community guidelines on state aid to maritime transport mean that the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry routes will still have to go out to tender.

Nicol Stephen: We are considering the revised guidelines, and the related Communication which the Commission issued on 23 December. I intend to discuss, with the Commission, the implications of the new guidelines for the tendering of the CalMac network.

Central Heating Programme

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider funding the provision of free central heating to disabled owner-occupiers under 60.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We will make decisions on the future development of the central heating programme later this year when we have had the opportunity to consider the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 topic report on fuel poverty.

Children's Hearings

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the extent to which councils are meeting statutory requirements and providing services prescribed by children’s hearings.

Euan Robson: Local authorities and managers of services have responsibilities to monitor and improve their performance. Overall, the Scottish Executive undertakes monitoring through the social work services inspectorate annual report and periodic thematic and specific reports by the Inspectorate. The Children and Young People Delivery Group is taking forward work to strengthen local quality assurance systems and external inspection of children’s services. Revised guidance for local authorities on planning co-ordinated children’s services will issue later this year. The Scottish Executive has collated and published performance by local authorities and other service providers under the Time Intervals Monitoring Group. Audit Scotland reports to the Scottish Parliament provide independent assessment of performance.

  At individual case level, children’s hearings will monitor progress at review hearings. The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill proposes a new power for reporters and hearings to refer local authorities to the courts if there are concerns that statutory obligations are not being met. The review of the hearings system which is due to be launched in a few weeks time will need to consider how the system as a whole ensures effective outcomes for children.

Common Agricultural Policy

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individual members of the public, apart from farmers, responded to the consultation CAP Reform: Opportunities for Scotland and what efforts the Scottish Executive made to ensure that members of the general public had the chance to fully participate.

Allan Wilson: There were 69individual responses to the consultation paper CAP Reform: Opportunities for Scotland from non-farmers.

  The Executive encouraged wide participation in the consultation through public meetings, stakeholder meetings, and extensive use of the Executive website.

Earnings

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the current annual average wage and how many people earn (a) less than that average wage, (b) from £50,000 to £100,000, (c) from £100,001 to £200,000 and (d) over £200,000, expressed also as a percentage of the total working population.

Mr Jim Wallace: Information on the number of people whose annual average earnings fall within the earnings categories requested is not held centrally.

  However, estimates of the proportion of full-time employees in Scotland whose annual average earnings fall within the categories requested are shown as follows:

  (a) 62% of full-time employees in Scotland earned less than the annual Scottish average of £22,660 at April 2003.

  (b) 3% of full-time employees had annual average earnings between £50,000 and £100,000 at April 2003.

  It is not possible to provide estimates for earnings category (c) from £100,001 to £200,000 or (d) over £200,000 as, owing to the small sample size, no reliable figures are available.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of additional classrooms required to meet the targets set for class size reduction.

Peter Peacock: Any need for additional classrooms in particular schools, will be influenced by issues such as local school occupancy levels, future pupil numbers and effectiveness of timetabling. It is for education authorities to consider these issues in the first instance.

Employment

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken into the employment pattern of graduates.

Jim Wallace: The employment of graduates has been the subject of academic research. Sources of official data include the annual Survey of First Destinations and the Labour Force Survey. I and my officials are in regular contact with many researchers and academics in the field, both in Scotland and other parts of the UK.

Environment

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3105 by Cathy Jamieson on 29 October 2003, how that answer is consistent with the commitment in A Partnership for a Better Scotland to take strong action to reduce environmental crime through strengthening the enforcement of environmental law including consideration of the establishment of environmental courts, and what steps it intends to take to fulfil that commitment.

Allan Wilson: It should not be inferred from the Minister for Justice’s response to question S2W-3105 that we have ruled out the establishment of environmental courts. We are currently considering a range of options for addressing this partnership agreement commitment.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Health and Safety

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is required for workers involved in the disposal of human sewage.

Allan Wilson: No specific training instructions have been produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regarding this work. However, the HSE have published a leaflet entitled Working with sewage: the health hazards: a guide for employers .

  This leaflet deals with the protection of workers from risks to health and recommends a number of measures including guidance to management, provision of proper personal protective equipment, welfare facilities and first aid equipment, and monitoring the welfare of staff.

  In relation to training in general, Regulation 13 of the Management and Safety at Work Regulations is concerned with capabilities and training. It deals with issues such as employees capabilities, provision of adequate health and safety training, changing systems of working and introduction of new technology. There is an accompanying Approved Code of Practice and Guidance, Ref. L21, Management of health and safety at work, ISBN 0717624889.

  Scottish Water has a hygiene code of practice for handling sewage for its employees, which provides guidance on precautionary measures, identifying hazards, and protecting employees’ health. They also have a hygiene code of practice to protect the drinking water supply.

Maritime Safety

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve safety in the Forth Estuary and, in particular, to ensure ease of access to, and a prompt and appropriate response from, emergency services.

Cathy Jamieson: Maritime safety is a reserved matter and responsibility in this areas lies with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

  However, following the recent tragedy in the Forth Estuary when two men went missing on a fishing trip, Central Scotland Police are carrying out an investigation into the circumstances and when their report is completed it will be considered by the Procurator Fiscal. It would be inappropriate to offer further comment at this stage. However, I can assure Parliament that any lessons learned from this tragic incident will be carefully considered by all the parties involved.

Mental Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in assisting elderly people with mental illness.

Mr Tom McCabe: A range of policies and initiatives are being progressed at local and national level aimed at improving care, services and support for older people with mental health problems. These include implementing the joint future agenda for single shared assessments and our work with the agencies to reduce delayed discharges from hospital. We are also working with Alzheimer Scotland-Action on dementia on guidance to help remove any blockages to joined up care that may occur in the organisation of dementia services.

NHS Staff

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current process is for determining which individuals should receive merit awards within the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: Distinction awards (or merit awards) are determined by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards (SACDA). A guide to the scheme can be found on Scottish Health on the Web ( http://www.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/pcs.asp ). More general information relating to SACDA can be found on http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sacda .

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what the average waiting time was for an appointment with a dermatologist and to obtain a biopsy in each NHS board area in each of the last 10 years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting times for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of dermatology, following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board of residence, in each of the last 10 years are given in the table.

  Information on waiting times for diagnostic tests, such as biopsies, is not collected centrally.

  The Centre for Change and Innovation will be launching a national redesign of dermatology services in February 2004 as part of our commitment to reducing outpatient waiting times and ensuring that no patient waits more than 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment, following GP referral, by 31 December 2005. The twin aims of the redesign will be to reduce outpatient waiting times and to improve the quality of services for patients.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For A First Out-patient Appointment With A Consultant In Dermatology, Following A General Medical Practitioner Referral, By NHS Board Of Residence: Years Ended 30 September 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003P.

  

 
 Median 
  Wait (days)


 NHS Board
 30 
  Sep 1994
 30 
  Sep 1995
 30 
  Sep 1996
 30 
  Sep 1997
 30 
  Sep 1998


 Argyll and Clyde
 47
 55
 71
 68
 53


 Ayrshire and Arran
 54
 40
 43
 43
 43


 Borders
 48
 49
 46
 54
 50


 Dumfries and Galloway
 41
 48
 42
 37
 45


 Fife
 75
 69
 73
 67
 65


 Forth Valley
 51
 62
 74
 60
 82


 Grampian
 72
 77
 84
 55
 70


 Greater Glasgow
 51
 53
 56
 61
 52


 Highland
 49
 56
 51
 59
 70


 Lanarkshire
 39
 42
 76
 77
 56


 Lothian
 47
 39
 43
 56
 47


 Orkney
 21
 19
 32
 49
 39


 Shetland
 38
 44
 38
 35
 24


 Tayside
 48
 45
 61
 75
 77


 Western Isles
 84
 97
 105
 65
 71


 Scotland
 50
 50
 56
 59
 54



  

  
 Median 
  Wait (days)


 NHS Board
 30 
  Sep 1999
 30 
  Sep 2000
 30 
  Sep 2001
 30 
  Sep 2002
 30 
  Sep 2003P


 Argyll and Clyde
 64
 59
 64
 56
 58


 Ayrshire and Arran
 44
 64
 103
 94
 88


 Borders
 58
 63
 72
 78
 82


 Dumfries and Galloway
 38
 18
 37
 63
 38


 Fife
 67
 62
 57
 74
 79


 Forth Valley
 107
 100
 118
 103
 86


 Grampian
 99
 111
 121
 114
 114


 Greater Glasgow
 54
 56
 58
 63
 52


 Highland
 60
 58
 37
 34
 40


 Lanarkshire
 42
 55
 65
 102
 82


 Lothian
 56
 69
 68
 65
 71


 Orkney
 40
 51
 39
 -1
 -1


 Shetland
 49
 49
 41
 68
 -1


 Tayside
 76
 30
 29
 49
 43


 Western Isles
 113
 61
 26
 27
 26


 Scotland
 56
 59
 61
 68
 62



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.

  1Information not shown due to small numbers.

  PProvisional.

NHS Waiting Times

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for assessment by an ear, nose and throat department, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The median waiting times for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of ear, nose and throat (ENT), following referral by a general medical practitioner, in each NHS board area, for the year ended 30 September 2003, is given in the table.

  The Centre for Change and Innovation, as part of its Outpatients Programme, has identified ENT as a candidate for national service redesign to help achieve the outpatient waiting time target that no patient should wait longer than 26 weeks for a first outpatient appointment with a consultant by 31 December 2005, and it is currently developing proposals for implementation later in 2004.

  NHSScotland: Median Waiting Times For A First Outpatient Appointment With A Consultant In The Specialty Of Ear, Nose And Throat, Following Referral By A General Medical practitioner, By NHS Board Area Of Residence. Year Ended 30 September 2003P.

  

 NHS Board
 Median 
  Wait (days)


 Argyll and Clyde
 64


 Ayrshire and Arran
 47


 Borders
 34


 Dumfries and Galloway
 46


 Fife
 82


 Forth Valley
 63


 Grampian
 85


 Greater Glasgow
 84


 Highland
 43


 Lanarkshire
 98


 Lothian
 55


 Orkney
 -1


 Shetland
 45


 Tayside
 55


 Western Isles
 69


 Scotland
 66



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR00.

  Notes:

  1Information not shown due to small numbers.

  PProvisional.

Public Bodies

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of each executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), advisory NDPB, tribunal, public corporation, nationalised industry and NHS body for which ministers are accountable, what external legal advice each organisation receives and from whom, what the jurisdiction is of each such legal advice provider, and what statutes govern the operation of each NDPB or other organisation and any contracts that they may enter into with third parties.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

  Arrangements for the provision of legal advice to non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are matters for individual organisations to consider. Details of the legislative basis of public bodies where appropriate, can be found in the Directory of Scottish Public Bodies on the Public Bodies Website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies/direct.asp.

  NDPBs are required to comply with Scottish Executive guidelines on procurement and delegated limits when contracting for goods and services.

Public Bodies

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of each executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), advisory NDPB, tribunal, public corporation, nationalised industry and NHS body for which ministers are accountable, how much each organisation has spent on external legal advice in each year since 1980, (a) in total and (b) adjusted for inflation with 1980 as the base year, broken down by legal jurisdiction of the invoicing provider.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

Public Safety

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend the Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975 so that the requirement for safety certificates will cover stadia with a capacity of 6,000 or above.

Mr Frank McAveety: We are currently updating and collating information gathered on sports ground capacities and related local authority safety certification across Scotland. This will help us review current policy on safety at sports grounds and decide whether or not it and current practice is relevant to current circumstances. We plan to issue a consultation paper in the spring and the current 10,000 threshold will be one of the issues on which views will be sought.

Public Transport

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage the use of public transport from suburban areas into city centres.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive works with transport authorities and transport operators to encourage the use of public transport from suburban areas into city centres, and continues to support a wide range of bus, rail, park and ride and modal shift initiatives.

School Meals

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4782 by Euan Robson on 13 January 2004, whether the income threshold for qualification for free school meals of £13,230 is a combined parental income threshold and therefore a household income limit.

Euan Robson: My answer to question S2W-4782 details the income threshold of £13,230 as representing the current income threshold for child tax credit (CTC), as prescribed by the Tax Credits Act 2002. This threshold relates to income assessed for the purpose of awarding tax credits. This is family income - so for two parent families the income threshold is a combined parental income threshold and therefore a household income limit.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Water

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the "right sizing" programme being implemented by Scottish Water is providing appropriate technical and pricing solutions to the normal and emergency water needs of owners and managers of care and nursing homes.

Allan Wilson: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I will ask the Chief Executive to write to you on this matter.

Social Work

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements it has made to monitor the performance of services for children and young people on supervision and probation.

Cathy Jamieson: National objectives and standards for social work services in the criminal justice system, which cover the supervision aspects of probation orders, were established in 1991. The national standards set out detailed guidance on management and practice and seek to provide courts with the assurance that high quality services will be provided and standards rigorously applied and effectively administered by suitably qualified staff.

  The Accounts Commission has a statutory responsibility to specify information local authorities must publish about their performance, in the form of statutory performance indicators. Criminal justice social work services, which are responsible for the supervision of probation orders, are one of the areas on which the Commission report annually. In addition the social work services Inspectorate commenced in 2003 a programme of inspection of the work of criminal justice social work services and have identified probation as one of the key areas for inspection.

  I would also refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5650. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to promote genealogy as a reason for visiting Scotland.

Mr Frank McAveety: Research shows that many visitors to Scotland give "family roots and ancestry" as the main influence on their decision to holiday in Scotland. Scotland is fortunate in having some of the best genealogical resources in the world. In particular, the development of the £1.6 million Scottish Family History Centre announced by the Scottish Executive in December 2002 provides a valuable opportunity to attract more visitors and maximise use of this tremendous resource.

  The new Centre will link the adjacent General Register House and New Register House at the East end of Edinburgh’s Princes Street to create a fully-integrated Register House campus. It will be fully operational in 2006 and will create a one stop-shop for genealogy research, bringing together services provided separately by the General Register Office for Scotland, National Archives of Scotland and Court of the Lord Lyon.

  In addition, in response to growing demand for genealogy tourism to Scotland VisitScotland launched the AncestralScotland website in 2002. The primary aim behind the project is to use people’s interest in their ancestral roots as a hook to encourage tourism. AncestralScotland offers the user information on how to research ancestry and provides a database of names (based on the 1881 census) for users to search through. The genealogical information is linked directly to tourism information on the relevant regional tourist board site, thereby encouraging users not simply to research their ancestors but to travel to their homeland.

Voluntary Sector

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting short-term volunteering, with particular regard to the time taken for police checks on such volunteers before they can commence their voluntary service.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Scottish Executive is currently finalising its volunteering strategy, the overall aim of which is to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland. The strategy will encompass all types of organised volunteering, including short-term volunteering.

  The Scottish Executive covers the cost of standard and enhanced police checks for voluntary sector volunteers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. We also core fund the Central Registered Body in Scotland to process applications for free checks for the voluntary sector and to forward them to Disclosure Scotland which issues the disclosure certificates. Furthermore we have authorised the recruitment of additional staff at Disclosure Scotland to reduce the turnaround times for applications and the position is improving.

Water Charges

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authority areas experienced a rise in domestic debt in relation to domestic water charges for Band A households between 2001 and 2003.

Allan Wilson: Data on levels of domestic debt by household band in relation to water charges is not held centrally.

Wildlife

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports proposals by Scottish Natural Heritage to continue culling hedgehogs in the Western Isles.

Allan Wilson: There is a continuing need to protect the threatened wading bird populations on the Uists. The Scottish Executive is of the view that SNH’s proposals represent the most effective.